1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of electrical connectors, and more particularly to a socket electrically mounted on an electrical substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB), and including terminals each having a resilient contact arm adapted to mechanically and electrically engage a corresponding conductive member arranged on the electrical substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a socket is widely used to electrically interconnect two electrical interfaces such as an IC package and a PCB, for conveniently and economically replacing of the IC. Referring to FIGS. 12, 13 and 14, the shown socket 90 includes a dielectric base 92 and terminals 94 secured in the base 92. To establish the above-mentioned electrical interconnection, each terminal 94 is provided with upper and lower resilient cantilever arms 942, 944. The upper arm 942 extends outside an upper surface 95 of the base 92 and is compressed to engage a pad 91 of an IC package 90A. For the same reason, the lower arm 944 extends beyond a lower surface 97 of the base 92, and is pressed to mate with a trace 93 of a PCB 90B. The terminal 94 further has a retention body 940. The upper and lower arms 942, 944 are connected to opposite ends of the retention body 940. The retention body 940 is secured in a passageway 96 of the base 92, thereby planting the terminal 94 in the base 92.
Before insertion of the terminal 94 into the base 92, one end of the retention body 940 of the terminal 94 is attached to a contact strip (not shown). After said insertion, the terminal 94 is cut off from the contact strip, the attached end 940A of the retention body 940 exposing outside of the passageway 96. A pressing tool 80 is applied to press or push the attached end 940A of the retention body 940, thereby to push the terminal 94 in the passageway 96.
However, in most occasions, after pressing or pushing, the attached end 940A still projects beyond the upper surface 95 from the passageway 96, or at most flushes with the upper surface 95. Consequently, after compressing of the upper and lower arms 942, 944 to respectively engage the pad 91 of the IC package 90A and the trace 93 of the PCB 90B, specifically in the case of that the upper and lower arms 942, 944 are over-compressed, the pad 91 is prone to electrically touch or engage the attached end 940A of an adjacent terminal 94 when the pad 91 has a relatively larger bottom mating face to engage the upper arm 942. If this happens, a short circuit is established between the two adjacent terminals 94. Consequently, a predetermined function of the IC package 90A is changed, even destroyed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,495 has the above disadvantages.
A new socket is, therefore, desired in light of the above problems.